Monday 4th July: Blue skies with a few fluffy white clouds, 15°C to 24°C
Larche to Fouillouse: 16k walk: 8.20am to 2.50pm: 6 hrs 30 mins
Up through meadows
Another stunning dy in the Alps. Highlight today was climbing 8oo metres to the Col de Mallemort at 2558 metres and having coffee at the top, looking back to the Pas de la Cavale where we'd been yesterday, then strolling 600m down the Vallon de Fouillouse through meadows and pine trees, following a steam to the 7 house village of Fouillouse.
We need to get away early again as it's an 800 metre climb and we're not sure how steep it will be. Breakfast is a delightful surprise and our host has gone to the trouble of making a simple French breakfast very nice. The bread's stale because it's such a remote village, but he's toasted it and the croissants have been re heated. There's butter and home made jam and nice coffee with hot milk. This demi pension (bed, dinner and breakfast) only cost 62 Euro - about $100 per person. And considering last nights dinner was a large piece of chicken with roast vegetables, it was very good value
Looking back at Larche
Blue skies and fluffy white clouds
More meadows
Clouds dissipating
And the views get better
10 metres from the col
Baraquements de Viraysse
Coffee at Col de Mallemort 2558m
Jenny and Graham not far behind
Col de Mallemort 2558 metres
Fat marmots in the meadows
Second col today
Lunch at Col du Vallonnet
Green valley down to Fouillouse
Beautiful flower filled meadows
Streams, meadows and pine trees
Yellow spring flowers
Graham was first down to breakfast - no WiFi as a distraction, and first out the door with his bag. At 8.00am, we leave, but there's a mobile mini grocery van parked across the road, to catch the morning hikers, particularly the day hikers who leave their cars in the street to go hiking in the alps for teh day. The bread is fresh from Italy this morning, and the cheese looks better than what we bought yesterday. Two hunks of bread and a slice of cheese later and we're on our way.
The climb up through meadows of flowers is quite steep but its nice in the cool of the morning while the sun is still behing the mountain tops.There's several memorials and war bunkers, noting events of WW2. We wait for Graham and Jenny and then move on towards the top of the col to wait for them forr morning tea. The track steepens then crosses a flat plateau of meadows and flowers then steepens up a stony track. Ian and I are at the Col de Mallemorte at 2558 m in a little over 2 hrs and enjoy a cup of tea with a view of the magnificent alps in all directions, while waiting for Graham and Jenny. They've done well to get up the 800 metres in 2hrs 30 mins at Jenny's predictable pace of 300m ascent per hour. It's not cold, nor windy, just magnificent as we enjoy the alps with patches of snow, blue skies with a few fluffy white clouds, and meadows full of spring flowers. On the other side of this col are the ruins from an old military camp set down in a basin valley 200 metres below us.
It's an easy walk down the other side on a stony path leading to the military ruins called the Baraquements de Viraysse. It's marmot heaven with big fat marmots running all over the meadowed valley basin. Through the ruins and then down on the old military road that winds it's way down, before joining the narrow track climbing through more meadows and across boggy spongy basins with water laying on the ground. The track rises to a second col called teh Col du Vallonnet at 2520m. It's a beautiful spot for lunch with patches of snow still lying around and views down the Vallon de Fouillouse to a back drop of more alps. Lunch is fresh Italian bread, with the cheese, 2 tomatoes and Presidents cheese we bought yesterdat from the caravan park Les Marmottes. Presidents cheese in France is superb and nothing like the Presidents cheese inported into Australia.
There's about 6k of stony track down the valley following a stream, and passing through fields of flowers, pine trees and more war bunkers. Soon the village of Fouillouse comes into view way down below, but it's another hour before we get there and the day has become much hotter with little breeze. It was still only 24°C, but we're glad we're walking the GR5 now, and not in the heat of summer. There's only a dozen places in this village, but it has several car parks for the day trekkers cars. And lo and behold, there's a shop! It stocks cold beer, meats and cheese - a pity because we already bought our lunch for tomorrow back at the caravan park yesterday, not expecting any thing here.
The Auberge des Granges is the last place in the small village, and we're shown to our rooms - I'd booked 2 double rooms on booking.com after not receiving a reply to my direct email, but finally our host replied and insisted I cancel the booking.com and book directly with him - saves him 15% commission. The rooms are tiny but comfortable and there's communal showers. But before settling in, it's time to have a local beer in the beer garden overlooking the stream. Then it's time to shower and wash our clothes which we can hang on the clothes line in the sun at the side of teh Auberge.
There's a brochure in the lounge room depicting in cartoon form how to handle sheep dogs if you encounter them on the track. It says, don't cry out, don't throw stones, don't threaten with a trekking pole, don't outstare them, DO give them a big swerve - which was exactly what we had to do to avoid being attacked 5 days ago on the track from Longon to Roya.
Dinner is at 7.30pm nice but not fantastic - green soup, potato pie, slices of cheese, with a glass of gennapi and ice to finish off. There's 4 French hikers sitting next to us. They are walking south, not north like us. But they hadn't been able to start near Modane where they intended to start because of the heavy snow in late March. We have been lucky as the snow in the southern alps was very light this year, and we've encountered on a small patch of snow across teh Pas de la Cavale a few days ago. The GR5 guide book says there's several cols on our walk which could hold the snow even into early july.
Sfter dinner, it's an early bed at 9pm.
Yellow spring flowers
Don't cry out
Don't throw stones
Don't threaten with a trekking pole
Don't outstare them
DO GIVE THEM A BIG SWERVE
Beautiful sunset in Fouillouse